Can someone please tell me what this plugs into?

Attached to the negative and positive poles of the battery on my newly purchased 2011 R1200RT (I'm the second owner) is a fused (20 amp) cable. Here are some photos of it.








Can anyone tell me specifically what this is for? I'm guessing a heated vest or something along that line. The excess cable is bound to the frame with an "Ortronics" hook and loop strip. I realize that the Velcro band may not be related to the product.

Connector for heated gear. Can also be used for a battery charger if your charger has a coaxial adapter.
Here's what a SAE to Coaxial cable looks like if you need one for a battery charger, air pump, ect.
Most heated gear has the coaxial end.

http://www.powerlet.com/product/coax-male-to-sae-cable/54

Welcome to the MOA forum.

It's not a BMW part

WOW! that was quick!

Thanks, Lee, for all the info. I have a heated vest that's about 20 years old but it has two contacts that are the same, not one for positive and negative. I guess with that older technology it didn't make any difference which way the warming electrons ran.

Also many thanks for including the link. I thought I was going to have to hook up new leads for my Battery Tender, but now I see that I can use the one that's already on there.

lkchris said:

It's not a BMW part

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No, but it works with Gerbing or Warm n Safe heated clothing and Detran (Battery Tender) brand and other battery chargers.

beemerdood said:

I have a heated vest that's about 20 years old but it has two contacts that are the same, not one for positive and negative.

Click to expand...

That sounds like Widder and it will probably be hard to find a cable that will work for you.
It will look like this


It might be easier to treat yourself to a new heated jacket liner

It wouldn't be too hard or expensive to change the connector on the old heated liner to match the new style connector. Polarity on heated clothing does not matter.

sedanman said:

It wouldn't be too hard or expensive to change the connector on the old heated liner to match the new style connector. Polarity on heated clothing does not matter.

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True for the garment. True for an on-off switch. Unless a pure rheostat (variable resistor) probably not true for a controller.

sedanman said:

It wouldn't be too hard or expensive to change the connector on the old heated liner to match the new style connector. Polarity on heated clothing does not matter.

Click to expand...

You mean I can't just reverse the polarity on my Gerbing and have it get colder during the summer???

beemerdood said:

WOW! that was quick!

Thanks, Lee, for all the info. I have a heated vest that's about 20 years old but it has two contacts that are the same, not one for positive and negative. I guess with that older technology it didn't make any difference which way the warming electrons ran.

Also many thanks for including the link. I thought I was going to have to hook up new leads for my Battery Tender, but now I see that I can use the one that's already on there.

Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum!
It's a good group that has seen a lot of things
Gary

Thanks for the welcomes. I have a "spin off" question now. The fuse that's on the coax cable is a 20 amp, I understand that heated clothing takes various size fuses, depending on the brand and how many pieces of clothing are put into the system.

The Battery Tender that I'm going to use has a 7.5 amp fuse.

What's the best way, perhaps I mean "elegant or proper" way to set it up so that I can use the Battery Tender and heated clothing?

I think that wiring new leads into the battery with the SAE fitting (and the 7.5 amp fuse), AND keeping the coax fitting for when and if I get around to getting some heated clothing, is the best way. (That is, I'd have two types of connectors present, one for each type of accessory). That way, using each connector for the appropriate item will ensure that the proper fuse is in place for each of them.

What say you folks?

I wouldn't worry about it. I just took a look, but can't find, my Gerbing info. As I remember, the Gerbing controller and wiring came with an assortment of fuses. The recommended fuse size had a relationship to whether you were running a vest, jacket, gloves, pants or a combination of all of the heated clothing. 20A was the fuse for the full compliment of heated gear.
OM